Why You Should Not Use Grow Boosters or Extra Nutrients....

Lemon king

Well-Known Member
So after spending years trying to find magic in a bottle....I decided to try and find out what my plants actually needed.....turns out a well balenced Npk and some natural occurring hormones from organic sources is it..... but why take my word heres royal queen seeds view.....


Too often do those new to growing cannabis (even some who are experienced) tend to rely on "grow boosters" or extra nutrients with the thought that it will enhance the grow and flavor of their plants.


However, using these methods can often do more harm than good. An improper balance or excess of nutrients can cause a number of problems including "root burn" or "nitrogen/nutrient burn". This causes the roots and leaf edges to take on a burnt appearance (yellow to black). If you are a grower who is already seeing this problem and are using "grow boosters" or extra nutrients, you should stop immediately and flush the plant(s) with water to rid the excess.

What should be understood here is that these medical plants want to grow and will do so without any added enhancements or nutrients. When growing cannabis, it is important to remember that natural is the best way to go. As the human body thrives off of more natural means, so too do these plants. Furthermore, using "grow boosters" and/or extra nutrients to enhance the flavor of the cannabis actually has the opposite effect. These methods most often cause the taste to become harsh or bitter whereas more simple and natural means enable the plant to become more full-bodied, flavorful, and potent.

In order to grow more wisely, there are only a few things you need to know. First, ensure that you are using a pot that is about 11-18 litres (3-5 gallons) in size. Most hardware stores carry 3-5 gallon buckets that are ideal for this. Make sure that the grow pot/bucket is clean and properly sanitized to provide the healthiest home possible before adding the soil. Next, ensure that the soil has a proper NPK (Nitrogen, Phospherous, Potassium) balance. Each of these nutrients serves a specific purpose to the plant. Nitrogen enables proper growth of the plant itself. Phospherous is vital in the development of the roots, leaves, and ultimately the buds. Potassium ensures a strong plant that will grow with a resistance to molds and diseases. A proper NPK balance consists of Nitrogen-12, Phospherous-14, and Potassium-24 (N-12 P-14 K-24).

Last is the water. If at all possible, develop a system for collecting rain water as it is the best option for plants. If not possible, any water is fine as long as itsPh balance is correct. This Ph balance should be between 6.0 and 6.3 for optimal results. One of the ways "grow boosters" can harm plants is by severely disrupting a proper Ph balance. Ph testers can be purchased at inexpensive prices and are invaluable when ensuring the water you put into your plants is the best for them. Cannabis plants are strong and determined growers and can usually grow in any climate or surrounding. Following these three simple steps will result in plants that will grow strong and healthy, yielding potent and flavorful buds with absolutely no need for "grow boosters" or extra nutrients.
 
i see better yields higher thc count and denser buds when i use the add ons combined with a organic base feed

bud candy and honey from humboldt got me a 6% increase in the THC count on the plants (same soil same everything except added on those 2) tho the terepenes did not increase only THC
b-52 has always been a good source of quick N for the plant plus proven destresser (shortens recovery time)
rapid start rooting enhancer is the shit for large root masses (4 years of experiments they have the most fine tendrils out off all products tried)

when i cut the plant i let the soil dry out and then i look at the root mass to judge the feeding experiments i was trying .....every strain is different no one prefect feed plan....best results is a tweaked super soil with a addons used to fill in what the strain wants
 
i see better yields higher thc count and denser buds when i use the add ons combined with a organic base feed

bud candy and honey from humboldt got me a 6% increase in the THC count on the plants (same soil same everything except added on those 2) tho the terepenes did not increase only THC
b-52 has always been a good source of quick N for the plant plus proven destresser (shortens recovery time)
rapid start rooting enhancer is the shit for large root masses (4 years of experiments they have the most fine tendrils out off all products tried)

when i cut the plant i let the soil dry out and then i look at the root mass to judge the feeding experiments i was trying .....every strain is different no one prefect feed plan....best results is a tweaked super soil with a addons used to fill in what the strain wants
I've been all over the place messing with Nutes. I change all the the time just because I want to try something different. But what I've found is that a good A + B with micro + calmag is really all that is necessary. Bud candy or molasses can be good additives if you want to use them but in my experience there is a negligible difference in yield/quality.

That said, it is only my experience, and I have seen some people work magic with crazy nute regimens and like 16 part systems. To each their own I suppose.


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Best bang for your buck. 3 products.

Monopotassium phosphate
Potassium sulfate
Magnesium sulfate (espom salt)

Those are what most bloom boosters are .

Humvic or fulvic acids, aminos acid, citric acid are great.

Also silica! If you are in hydro, use silica.

I'm about to move from bottled salt nutes to just using raw salts.

Calcium nitrate is a good source for cal and nitrogen.

I have a bit more research about micros and other things before I stop using gh micro & bloom.
 
High times article. ..

What and How Much? | High Times

www.hightimes.com

Let’s examine the age-old cultivators question... What to feed my plants, and how much? It’s a hard question to answer and you will get different information based on where you look and who you ask. If you ask the large nutrient manufacturers, they will point you at an expensive, multi-product line and suggest you feed your garden as much as you possibly can without killing your plants. If you ask an earth-mother type, they might suggest that messy, smelly organic teas and vegan composts are the route to go. Both of these examples can yield amazing cannabis but neither of them is a very scientific approach. A better way to figure out what we should feed our plants starts with examining the plants nutrient uptake profile and working backwards from there.

Nutrient Uptake Profile
Nutrient Profiling is a way of looking at a given nutrient product and identifying the products elemental makeup. N-P-K numbers are the most common way we compare nutrient products to each other, but a complete nutrient profile should cover more than just N-P-K - it should cover all the minor elements a plant needs to thrive.

Imagine that we have a nutrient solution and that we know exactly what the nutrient profile of that solution is. Now, let’s take that nutrient solution and run it in a hydro system for a period of time. If we take that solution and re-evaluate it’s nutrient profile after it has been used, we should be able to determine exactly what nutrients the plants used and how much they used - this is how a plants ‘nutrient uptake profile’ is determined. This is powerful information... with this information we can mix a nutrient solution that has exactly what our plant needs in the exact right proportions without any waste.

Lucas Formula
The Lucas Formula is an approach to feeding your plants based on horticultural science and plant biology rather than nutrient company propaganda. It is a simple “Less is more” approach that will save you money on nutrients and give you great results.

Sometimes referred to as the ‘Lucas Ratio’, the Lucas Formula is a simple method for mixing nutrient solution in a ratio that is tailored to the cannabis plants nutrient uptake footprint. Basically, we know what the cannabis plants uptake profile looks like, and we can tailor mix a nutrient solution to match that profile. You can mix a ‘lucas formula’ from any nutrient brand, but in this article we will look at using General Hydroponics Flora line of nutes.

One of the first things you will notice when you look at the lucas formula applied to General Hydroponics Flora Line is that you don’t use any of the grow formula and that’s not a mistake. The Micro part of the 3 part GH line has all of the nitrogen a garden needs and, since the Lucas formula is a “less is more” strategy, you can skip using the grow part all together. You should change your reservoir once a week and top off the reservoir daily with pH adjusted water.

Vegatative mix:
Grow - 0ml per gallon
Micro - 5ml per gallon
Bloom - 10ml per gallon

Flowering mix:
Grow - 0ml per gallon
Micro - 8ml per gallon
Bloom - 16ml per gallon

The last week to 10 days of flowering should be used as a flushing period and all you will need to do is keep your reservoir filled with fresh, clean, pH adjusted water.

This feeding system works extremely well in hydro systems because the low ppm nutrient solution is unlikely to clog hydro lines. Also, since there is no organic element to this mix, it is a good opportunity to use hydrogen peroxide in your water. You can mix 15ml per gallon of 3% hydrogen peroxide into every gallon of water you put into your reservoir. The hydrogen peroxide will kill off any algae or fungus that can grow in a reservoir and it also releases oxygen in the root zone of your plants.

Great results can be achieved with this simple mix and all you need is 3 things... GH Micro, GH Bloom and hydrogen peroxide. You can feed a small hydro garden with 10 gallon reservoir for two cycles with about $35.00 in nutrients using this mixture - and you will find that the end result is nothing less than spectacular.

Check out our Cannabis Nutrient Uptake Profile chart and more info on mixing Lucas Formula Nutrient Solutions with products other than GH.
 
i see better yields higher thc count and denser buds when i use the add ons combined with a organic base feed

bud candy and honey from humboldt got me a 6% increase in the THC count on the plants (same soil same everything except added on those 2) tho the terepenes did not increase only THC
b-52 has always been a good source of quick N for the plant plus proven destresser

Ohhh were to start.....b vitimins are scientifically proven to do absolutely nothing for plants...it is a.complete myth.....I understand changing what you have done for possibly years is a hard task....but......really you should be practising true life organics if you are going the dirt route....but I digress....

Your results unfortunately are about as far from a Scientific test as is possible.... so I cannot include them.


The truth is the only Food you need is a well balenced npk.....great results can be achieved with a 1-1-1 npk formula HOWEVER this would lead to the cannabis plant assimilating too much N in flower....they are greedy girls and boys and will use it if it's there.....

All boosters contain are pghs.....plant growth hormones....such as triacontonol a natural plant hormone(what makes cannaboost work).....

There are synthetic pgrs too and can be really bad if use on consumable crops......gravity....bushmaster all the banned ones.....

Pghs act like switches in the plant controlling different functions....

The only reason you stopped growing is because a stop growing hormone told the grow hormone to stop....

If you could utilise these switches at the correct time you will see a huge huge yield and quality increase as the plants are pushed to there limit...

All I'm saying is adding more food won't turn on any switches....it'll jus make you fat lazy sick and unproductive....jus like plants
 
Ohhh were to start.....b vitimins are scientifically proven to do absolutely nothing for plants...it is a.complete myth.....I understand changing what you have done for possibly years is a hard task....but......really you should be practising true life organics if you are going the dirt route....but I digress....

Your results unfortunately are about as far from a Scientific test as is possible.... so I cannot include them.


The truth is the only Food you need is a well balenced npk.....great results can be achieved with a 1-1-1 npk formula HOWEVER this would lead to the cannabis plant assimilating too much N in flower....they are greedy girls and boys and will use it if it's there.....

All boosters contain are pghs.....plant growth hormones....such as triacontonol a natural plant hormone(what makes cannaboost work).....

There are synthetic pgrs too and can be really bad if use on consumable crops......gravity....bushmaster all the banned ones.....

Pghs act like switches in the plant controlling different functions....

The only reason you stopped growing is because a stop growing hormone told the grow hormone to stop....

If you could utilise these switches at the correct time you will see a huge huge yield and quality increase as the plants are pushed to there limit...

All I'm saying is adding more food won't turn on any switches....it'll jus make you fat lazy sick and unproductive....jus like plants


sorry i own a my dx ........have chemical profiles of the weed from a gas chromatograph
the acu of it is 80% with the first gen senor

i can see the returns and i have the chemical profiles to prove samples listed and dated stored in a air tight containers for retesting if ever called into ?

u can not get any more science with out a actual lab with a mass spec

u need to re look B-52 is more then just B vits ........as for u saying has no value i seen it plant that got it for stress a plant that did not stress plant recovered the one that got the shot of it by 10 days faster then the one that did not ...........i might not know what is in the feed but i know the results with my own eyes

i grow auto flowers ........so feeding is a must if u want to get a good product out of it ......photos are child's play with the flower period of 10/12 weeks a 6 year old can make it give them a LB
auto flowers are feed based for results with the shorter veggie and flower time (whole life of the plant 10 weeks) the whole idea with them is to mimic the best possible day as many times as can

i reject your argument i can disprove most of that u say with own personal experiments that can be redone to get the same results

just a side .......i made a auto plant fill a whole 4x4x6 tent in 110 days ........the food i was offering was insane high (high 3000 low 4000 ppm) DWC hydro
that alone proves feeding is worth doing .......my test with bud candy/honey proves it worth it as i had hard numbers showing a increase in THC from the use of those 2 products
 
100% correct, I saw a visible improvement in a side by side with a silica experiment.

In hydro, fo sho. I did the same. Plants are stronger, visually. It helps to tolerate stress. I use bulletproofSi and it rocks.

It is a repeatable responce too. It is night and day.

Only draw back is it will elongate fan leaves stems to find light. But you combat it with training. And make sure you have enough light.
 
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